Page 83 of A Highly Unlikely Duchess
"No," Theodore said.
George's face tightened.
"I am sorry," Theodore said, and he meant it. Emily could hear that he meant it, but his voice did not waver. "I cannot do that, and I will tell you why, plainly, because I think you deserve a plain answer."
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked at George Cluett directly.
"Frederick came into my life a few months ago," he said. "He was closed off, frightened, he barely spoke, he flinched at loud sounds, and he would not look at anyone he did not know. He had lost his father and his mother, and he had a scar on his face that was a constant reminder of the most tragic day of his life." He paused. "But now, he does not flinch anymore. He laughs. Openly, without reservation, the way a child is supposed to laugh. He asks questions about everything. He has opinions about things he does not even understand." He held George's gaze. "He did not arrive here that way. He became that way because he felt safe. Because he was loved. Because he had people around him who were not going anywhere."
George watched Theodore, not blinking.
"He calls for me in the mornings," Theodore said quietly. "He has done so since I sat with him through a fever one day. He calls for Emily every night before he sleeps. He has built a life with us, and he has built it on the certainty that we are not going to leave him." He sat back. "I cannot hand him to a man he does not know and send him to a house he has never seen and call it what is best for him. I cannot do that, and I will not do that. Not without a fight, that I promise you, Mr. Cluett, you do not want because I will not stop until every resource I possess is exhausted to bring him home."
The room fell silent. George looked at the fire. He looked at it for a long time, and Emily watched his face, hoping that hewould understand... hoping that they could come to some sort of agreement.
"I do not have the strength for this fight,” he said softly. “But I still insist that in some way, I need to be part of Frederick’s life.”
"Then you will be," Emily said almost immediately, causing him to turn his attention to her. "I mean that without reservation. You are his grandfather. That is not a small thing, and I won’t treat it as one. Frederick deserves to know you. He deserves to know his father's face through yours, his father's hands through yours, and every story about Thomas that you hold dearly." She held his gaze. "Those stories belong to him, and you are the only one who can give them to him."
"You can visit whenever you wish," she continued. "There will always be a room for you. We will never turn you away, we will never make it difficult, and we will never allow Frederick to grow up not knowing who you are."
The old man’s face finally crumpled in a profound sense of relief. “You can promise that?”
“She can,” Theodore added. "What Emily has offered you is a door that will remain open for as long as you wish to walk through it. You have my word, too."
George looked down at his hands. Thinking to himself. Emily felt as though she could not breathe; she leaned into Theodore, trying to anchor herself as she waited for George’s verdict. Deep down, she really hoped that he would consider their offer. Thelast thing she wanted was to create a bad relationship between Frederick and his grandfather.
Just then, George stood. He did not say anything immediately. He simply stood and straightened his coat. Emily and Theodore stood with him.
“I shall fetch him,” George said. “Give me a moment. He finally fell asleep this morning after whining all night. Perhaps, I should not have rushed him into meeting me.”
As George disappeared, the heavy tension that had gripped the room finally shattered, leaving only the soft crackle of the hearth. Emily turned to Theodore, her heart swelling with gratitude so profound it felt like it might explode. Without a word, she threw herself into his arms, burying her face against the wool of his coat and clinging to him as if he were the only solid thing in a world that had almost tilted off its axis. "Thank you," she breathed, her voice a whisper of relief.
Theodore’s arms wrapped around her instantly, pulling her flush against him with a fierce, possessive strength. He rested his chin atop her head, his eyes closed as he drew in a long, shaky breath of her scent.
In that cramped, dimly lit inn, Emily felt a radiant, untouchable happiness. The nightmare was over, and it was the first time in her life that she was held by the man she loved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Will you forgive me, Emily?”
Emily looked at Julia Birks sitting across from her in the yellow sitting room.
Her arrival had been an unwelcome jolt that morning. Emily had stared at the calling card as if it were a forgery, her mind flashing back to the hollow seat at their wedding where Julia should have been. The woman had been conspicuously absent during the most pivotal moments of their union, neither sending letters nor well-wishes while Emily struggled to navigate the labyrinth of her new life. To see her now, sitting in the sun-drenched morning room with an expression of concern, felt like an intrusion upon a peace she had fought too hard to win.
“Forgive you for which part, Lady Birks?” Emily asked, standing by the window.
The sunlight felt too bright, too cheerful for the storm that had been brewing in her chest. She looked at Julia and felt a sudden, sharp clarity. It wasn't just the fact that she spread the rumors about her; it was the fundamental lack of respect.
"All of it," Julia said finally. "I am here for all of it."
"I have been telling myself I was fine," Emily said. "That it was resolved, and everything had worked itself out, and there was no need to carry any of it anymore." She looked at her. "Then you walked in, and I understood that I had simply been storing it somewhere I was not looking."
"The way you spoke to me," Emily said. "In the conservatory. In front of my parents." She paused. "There was no need for it. There was no need for any of it to happen the way it happened. If you had questions about Frederick, my circumstances, or whether I was a suitable match for Theodore, you could have asked me. Directly. Privately." She looked at her steadily. "You did not have to make it a spectacle."
"No," Julia said quietly. "I did not. I know... I know how I acted, Emily. I look back at those first few weeks, and I am ashamed. I told myself I was doing it for Theodore, that I was protecting him, but it was out of line. The way I spoke to you... It was unkind.”
“It was more than unkind,” Emily said, finally turning to face her. “It was cruel. I didn't realize quite how much it had settled into my bones until I saw you walk through that door today. I keep thinking about those early days, and there was simply noneed for any of it. You could have treated me like a human being instead of a problem to be managed.”
